When artists reach the point of legendary status, the tribute album comes along. Usually these types of things come together many years after the artist is past the pinnacle of their career, with many of today’s artists covering songs in tribute to the original artist. Case in point are each Sergio Mendes’ Timeless, Bob Marley’s Chant Down Babylon, and the Isley Brothers Taken To The Next Phase. Latest in the series is Sly and The Family Stone’s Different Strokes By Different Folks, featuring an eclectic mix of the usual suspects and some not so familiar faces. 

    Sly’s contribution to music transcends hip-hop, but it’s certainly hip-hop where you’ll find the heaviest borrowing of the Family Stone’s sound. All of the group’s biggest hits have been sampled to death and regurgitated by an endless list of classic hip-hop artists, which includes, but is not limited to: Public Enemy, LL Cool J, The Roots, Beastie Boys, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Digital Underground, Ice Cube, DJ Shadow, Diamond D, Mobb Deep, Arrested Development, 2pac, Wu-Tang Clan, Redman, Run DMC, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, E-40, Big Pun, Cypress Hill, N.W.A….and the list goes on. Even outside of hip-hop, artists like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beck, and Fatboy Slim, have dabbled in the group’s catalog of ripe sample material. So, it kind of goes without saying that hip-hop – and the music industry itself – owes a lot to Sly & The Family Stone. 

     The album kicks off with Will.I.Am’s cover of “Dance To The Music”, which is a perfectly executed update of the classic hit. Here, Will jacks the famous hook, adding his own adlibs to it, while constructing a dope little party-starter laced with his trademark BEP rhyme style. Maroon 5 follows up with their live cover of “Everyday People” (last made famous for today’s generation with the Arrested Development cover), giving the song a harder rock edge, which is pulled off quite nicely. The Roots chime in with “Star” – which worked great as the first song on The Tipping Point LP – but here seems a bit out of place next to such lively covers that precede it. 

     The Dungeon Family contributes two selections to the album, first with the Idlewild-version of Outkast (that is, Big Boi, Sleepy Brown, and Killer Mike), who deliver a fresh take on “Runnin’ Away”, with the patented Stankonia studio sound. Meanwhile, Gnarls Barkley frontman, Cee-Lo Green, joins Purple Ribbon All-Stars Big Boi and Scar for “(You Caught Me) Smilin’”. While it would have been nice to hear Cee-Lo flex his vocal chops for this one, that duty is instead given to Scar, but Cee-Lo still steals the show with his rapped lyrics. 

     Midway through the album, however, it hits a few speed bumps. Amateurs, The Wylde Bunch, attempt to rework “I Get High On You”, with painfully written raps that hurt the listener’s ears. Former LFO singer Devin Lima tries on “If You Want Me To Stay” for size, but seriously has no business next to the other artists on this record, let alone covering Sly and The Family Stone. Meanwhile, Moby’s does his house-remix thing on “Love City”, while DJ Reset brilliantly – brilliantly – mashes up Janet Jackson’s “Rhthym Nation” with it’s original source sample material, “Thank You (Faleetinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”. Or Not. 

     Still, in the way of collaborations, this album’s got a few interesting ones on the way out. Perhaps the group’s crown jewel, “Sing A Simple Song”, (sampled over 120 times, actually), finds Chuck D playing hype man, while vocals are sung by D’Angelo and Isaac Hayes. Nappy Roots team up with Martin Luther for one of the album’s better hip-hop covers with “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey”, while Joss Stone and John Legend share “Family Affair”. Finally, for the Grammy foundation and Rolling Stone Magazine writers, John Mayer teams with blues legend Buddy Guy for “You Can Make It If You Try”, while Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler shares the spotlight with Robert Randolph for “I Want To Take You Higher”. No complaints here. 

    While there have definitely been better cover albums than this one in the past, Different Strokes By Different Folks still has its high points. It’s only clear fault is the strange mix of artists that it enlists; however that’s not so different than the multi-racial make-up of Sly’s Family Stone band itself.